DAY 2 - AUCKLAND ART GALLERY + AUT

MANA MOANA & INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE

in his influential essay 'our sea of islands' the late professor 'epeli hau'ofa posited that the moana/ocean connects rather than separates island peoples. hau'ofa argued that the oceanic people lived interconnected lives as spirited and heroic as the ocean they lived in. if this extensive and interwoven citizenship is increasingly how oceanic peoples perceive and conduct themselves in modern times, as hau'ofa contends, how is this borne out as new and broader relationships are forged in the new millennium?

This session we will invite speakers to discuss indigenous knowledge and theory as integral ways of knowing and being that continue to inform cultural practice both within and outside of institutional spaces.

This session will focus on indigenous curatorial practice and its developments within the Pacific region. It will explore a range of issues from agency, authorship, institutional curating to community driven curatorship within an urban and Pacific diaspora.

The Veiqia Project is a creative research project inspired by the practice of Fijian female tattooing. Five contemporary Fijian women artists have been engaged in Australia and New Zealand to participate in shared research activities and Museum visits to inform the development of new artwork. At its heart, The Veiqia Project involves seven Fijian women – five artists and two curators – on a journey of artistic and cultural enquiry. Through a shared online research forum and time spent with Fijian collections at museums in Australia, Fiji and New Zealand, the artists have generated an indigenous research archive driven by personal, artistic and relational connections. Artists: Margaret Aull (Waikato, New Zealand), Donita Hulme (Sydney, Australia), Joana Monolagi (Auckland, New Zealand), Dulcie Stewart (Brisbane, Australia) and Luisa Tora (Auckland, New Zealand).